Welcome to our August/September editorial!
Tamar Loach, Technology Initiative Director and Ryan Goodman, Connected Digital Twins Team Lead update us on DT Hub partnerships and collaborations. They also welcome the new Strategic Board.
What new partnerships and initiatives is the DT Hub involved in?
Tamar: We’ve got some exciting new partners in the form of our Strategic Board members. It is fantastic to see the start of discussions on connected digital twins between leaders on digital initiatives thinking about our energy systems, our water networks, our roads and our railways – those that think about how all of this comes together to meet people’s needs in cities and places, the digital and connectivity infrastructure that underpins innovations that can support new ways of living and thriving. Hearing the passion coming from this group about the importance of working together and demonstrating what can be achieved using digital twin technologies is just what we need to see. We are excited at the Connected Places Catapult to support the Digital Twin Hub community to showcase credibility building, technically sound examples of digital twins that have supported operational or strategic decisions or processes – that have changed something in the physical world. Please do get in touch if you have a project to showcase, we have multiple ways of supporting you to share your story with more in person events coming soon too. One highlight of the first meeting of the Strategic Board was the sentiment from Davin Crowley-Sweet at National Highways who said, “No journey starts or ends on one of our assets”. We need to work as a team to create digital and data change that has systemic impact.
We also continue to work in partnership with Anglian Water, BT and UK Power Networks to define a next phase for the CReDo project. We are exploring various technical and use case extensions that will really showcase connected digital twins for resilience planning – the value of a focus on strategic use cases rather than ‘reactive’ or ‘responsive’ use cases is a theme of recent discussion.
Ryan: One of our main aims is to accelerate greater industry understanding around digital twins nationally, especially in sectors that are underrepresented in terms of application and presence within the Hub’s community. Building partnerships in those areas represents a huge opportunity.
We also place high value on the input from our global community. We want to develop those relationships further – for example, by leveraging our collaboration with the Global Digital Transformation programme, formerly known as the UK’s International BIM programme. It’s been an invaluable tool that has helped increase the digital maturity of various countries by providing resources and guidance around public procurement and project delivery. One next step will involve highlighting successful international case studies that can inform future UK policies and practices.
Can you tell us about the new Strategic Board and its Chair, Dr Alison Vincent?
Tamar: I’ve already had the pleasure of working with Alison in her capacity as a member of CPC’s board, where she supported the transition of the Digital Twin Hub, CReDo and the International BIM programme from their home at CDBB to a next phase led from CPC. She brings an important perspective from leadership roles at major tech companies and her commitment to listening to diverse voices as we develop cross-sector connected digital twins that are truly innovation and impact driven is exciting. There is lots of discussion to be had from the technical – like how we learn from and use best practice from different technical disciplines like software engineering and on the role of standards – to the collaboration and partnerships we need to get real benefit from application of digital twin technologies.
Ryan: It’s great to have a new Strategic Board to drive us forward, and one that is reflective of our diverse community. I believe there’s enormous opportunity here to foster new collaborations between asset owners and service providers, and to provide us with a valuable pool of knowledge to draw from.
I’m looking forward to working with Alison, who will bring an extraordinary wealth of experience to the DT Hub. As well as working for over 30 years in companies such as Cisco, HSBC and IBM, Alison is a thought leader and specialist on digital strategy and cybersecurity. She is recognised as one of the most influential women in UK tech.
We’ll be looking to her for advice on how we can connect, accelerate, and apply innovative thinking around twins in other national industries. We’ll also be leaning on her expertise in unlocking data from various sectors and joining that information together to produce new insights and opportunities.
So a huge welcome from us all to Alison and the rest of the new Strategic Board!
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